2020 IEEE Wireless Power Transfer Conference (WPTC)
November 15 - 19, 2020, Seoul, Korea
Continuously Variable Active Reactance
Robert A. Moffatt1 ∗
1
Etherdyne Technologies, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA
∗
ramoffatt@etherdyne.net
Abstract—In this paper, circuits are described which produce
continuously variable capacitive or inductive reactance. This is
achieved by varying the duty cycle of a single switching device in
parallel with a capacitor or in series with an inductor. Formulas
are derived for the effective capacitance and inductance as
functions of the duty cycle.
An Active Variable Capacitance circuit was built and tested,
and was shown to be fairly well described by the theoretical
formulas. The Active Variable Capacitance is shown to have
a practical application in the automatic tuning and current
regulation of a wireless repeater resonator.
Index Terms—Active Variable Reactance, autotuning, wireless
repeater, resonant WPT
I. I NTRODUCTION
Resonant wireless power systems make use of magnetic or
electric coupling between LC resonators in order to transfer
electric power. Such systems require resonators with high
quality factor in order to achieve high efficiency. However,
high quality factors make the resonators more sensitive to
detuning, which can be caused by variations in component
values, interactions with the environment, or other factors. For
this reason, it is desirable to have a means of correcting these
tuning errors.
T1
T1
CT
LT
Reactance
Control
CVAR CT LT LVAR
T2 T2
(a) Variable capacitance. (b) Variable inductance.
Fig. 1: Examples of tunable resonators.
Figure 1 shows two methods of controlling the resonant
frequency of an LC resonator. In both examples, a resonant
LC tank circuit is formed by a fixed inductor LT and capacitor
CT , connected in series or in parallel with an additional tunable
reactive element, CVAR , or LVAR .
In order for the resonators to be able to respond to
changes in their environment without human control, it is
necessary for the variable reactance elements to be electrically-
controllable. Electrically-controllable reactances can be made
using electromechanical systems, non-linear devices, or dis-
cretely switched arrays of inductors or capacitors [1]. How-
ever, these approaches all have disadvantages for wireless
power applications. Electromechanical systems and discretely
switched reactance arrays have high cost and complexity,
while non-linear devices require DC control voltages and
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currents which are much larger than the RF voltage and current
amplitudes in the LC tank circuit, which is often an impractical
requirement for high-power systems. It is therefore desirable
to find a means of constructing an electrically-controllable
reactive element which does not require an electro-mechanical
device or a non-linear reactance, and which can achieve a
continuous tuning range using a minimal number of switching
devices and minimal complexity.
II. ACTIVE VARIABLE R EACTANCE
The desirable attributes described in the previous section
may be achieved with an active variable reactance. Previous
work has explored the use of active reactances formed us-
ing four switching devices in an H-bridge configuration. [2]
Figures 2 and 3 show how active variable reactances may be
constructed using a single electrically-controllable switching
device, S1 , which is switched on and off at the frequency of
the sinusoidal RF current or voltage in the LC tank circuit.
The tank circuit is assumed to be powered indirectly through
inductive or capacitive coupling to an external RF source with
a drive frequency, fd .
The tuning of the resonators shown in Figures 2 and 3 may
be adjusted by changing the duty cycle of the switch. Using
this single, electrically-controlled switching device, these cir-
cuits can produce variable reactance without the complexity of
Reactance the electromechanical systems or switched arrays and without
Control
the need for the large DC voltages or currents required by the
non-linear systems.
III. T HEORY OF O PERATION OF ACTIVE VARIABLE
C APACITANCE
In the Active Variable Capacitance shown in Figure 2, the
LC tank circuit ensures that the RF current, IRF , flowing from
terminal T1 to terminal T2 is nearly sinusoidal. This RF current
is shown in the top plot of Figure 2b. The middle plot shows
the Switch Control square wave. The phase of the square wave
is chosen such that the negative-slope zero-crossing of IRF
occurs at the midpoint of the low period.
The bottom plot shows the voltage, VCs , across capacitor,
Cs , where it is assumed that Cs  CT . When the switch is off,
the capacitor, Cs , is first charged and then discharged by the
current, IRF . The phase relation between IRF and the Switch
Control square wave guarantees zero-voltage switching, ensur-
ing that the switch does not dissipate energy by discharging
Cs when it turns on.
The voltage waveform, VCs (t), contains many harmonics.
However, the LC tank circuit acts as a filter which responds
463
 1.0A

IRF
0A

-1.0A

Control
Switch
ON
OFF

20V

VCs
0V

0.0
s 0.5
s 1.0
s 1.5
s 2.0
s

Time

(a) Active Variable Capacitance, simplified schematic. (b) Simulated ideal waveforms with fd =1MHz and δ=70%.

Fig. 2: An Active Variable Capacitance, consisting of a capacitor, Cs , in parallel with a switch, S1 , switched at the frequency
of the RF current in the LC tank circuit. Note the switch only sees positive voltage, and therefore need not be bidirectional.

20V

VRF
0V

-20V

Control
Switch
ON
OFF

0.2A

ILs0.0A

0.0
s 0.5
s 1.0
s 1.5
s 2.0
s

Time

(a) Active Variable Inductance, simplified schematic. (b) Simulated ideal waveforms with fd =1MHz and δ=30%.

Fig. 3: An Active Variable Inductance, consisting of an inductor, Ls , in series with a switch, S1 , switched at the frequency of
the RF voltage across the LC tank circuit. Note the switch must be bidirectional.

primarily to the fundamental. Therefore, an effective reactance, is on, the voltage, VRF , causes the inductor current to first
χc , may be defined by dividing the amplitude of this funda- rise and then fall. The phase relation between VRF and the
mental by the amplitude of the RF current: Switch Control square wave guarantees zero-current switching,
  ensuring that the switch does not dissipate energy.
sin(2πδ)
χ c = χCs −δ+1 (1) The current waveform, ILs (t), contains many harmonics.
2π
However, the LC tank circuit acts as a filter which responds
where χCs ≡ 1/(ωCs ) is the reactance of capacitor, Cs , at the primarily to the fundamental. Therefore, an effective suscep-
angular frequency, ω, of the RF current. Equation 1 shows that tance, Bl , may be defined by dividing the amplitude of this
the effective reactance may be continually varied by changing fundamental by the amplitude of the RF voltage:
the switch duty cycle, δ. The relation between the duty cycle  
and the effective capacitive reactance is plotted in Figure 4a. 1 sin(2πδ)
Bl = δ− (3)
This reactance is equivalent to the following effective variable χ Ls 2π
capacitance:
where χLs ≡ ωLs is the reactance of inductor Ls at the
1 Cs angular frequency, ω, of the RF voltage. Equation 3 shows
CVAR = = sin(2πδ)
(2)
ωχc
2π −δ+1 that the effective susceptance may be continually varied by
changing the switch duty cycle, δ. The relation between the
IV. T HEORY OF O PERATION OF ACTIVE VARIABLE
duty cycle and the effective inductive susceptance is plotted
I NDUCTANCE
in Figure 4b. The effective inductive reactance is equal to the
In the Active Variable Inductance shown in Figure 3, the LC reciprocal of the effective inductive susceptance:
tank circuit ensures that the RF voltage, VRF , between terminal
T1 and terminal T2 is nearly sinusoidal. This RF voltage is 1 χ Ls
χl = = (4)
shown in the top plot of Figure 3b. The middle plot shows the Bl δ − sin(2πδ)
δ
Switch Control square wave. The phase of the square wave
is chosen such that the negative-slope zero-crossing of VRF This reactance is equivalent to the following effective variable
occurs at the midpoint of the high period. inductance:
The bottom plot shows the current, ILs , through inductor, χl Ls
LVAR = = (5)
Ls , where it is assumed that Ls  LT . When the switch ω δ − sin(2πδ) 2π

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 1 1

0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6
χc / χ Cs

χ Ls ⋅ B l
0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Duty Cycle (%) Duty Cycle (%)

(a) Effective capacitive reactance vs. duty cycle. (b) Effective inductive susceptance vs. duty cycle.

Fig. 4: Effective capacitive reactance and inductive susceptance as a function of the switch duty cycle, δ.

V. E XPERIMENTAL T EST OF ACTIVE VARIABLE results are plotted in Figure 7 and show fairly good agreement
C APACITANCE with the prediction of Equation 2.
Figure 5 shows an Active Variable Capacitance circuit,
2
which was soldered to an inductive loop made from copper
1
tape. The loop was inductively driven by an external RF
IRF (A)

0
fd=6.78MHz
source. The switch was implemented with a parallel pair of -1

MOSFETs. To generate the gate-drive signal, the sinusoidal -2

6
voltage across a capacitor in series with the loop was sent
4
VGS (V)

through a phase shift network and into a comparator to 2
=60.2%

generate a square wave, which was then converted into a 0

triangle wave by an RC filter and fed into a second comparator -2

to produce a square wave with controllable duty cycle.2 4

3
Figure 6 shows measurements of the gate, drain, and RF
VDS (V)

2
1
current waveforms, which are in good agreement with the
0
shapes of the ideal waveforms shown in Figure 2b. -1
-100 -50 0 50 100
Time (ns)
tank circuit tank circuit
switch MOSFET
capacitors capacitor
capacitor switch
5VDC
Fig. 6: Measured waveforms of the Active Variable Capac-
IN itance circuit in Figure 5. IRF was determined from the
Copper tape

Gate
time derivative of the voltage across a series capacitor. A
Driver
Phase 200MHz low-pass filter was applied in software to remove
Copper tape

shifter
square
wave
high-frequency noise amplified by the derivative.
generator

7.8
Gate Duty
Driver
Theory
Cycle
Control Measurement
Signal 7.6
LT=260nH
switch MOSFET CT=2.16nF
tank circuit tank circuit
capacitor switch 7.4 Cs=7.47nF
capacitors capacitor
f0 (MHz)

Fig. 5: Photo of the circuit used for the measurements in 7.2

Figures 6 and 7.
7
To test the validity of Equation 2, the resonator was in-
ductively coupled to a driven loop. The gate-drive duty cycle 6.8
was varied, and for each value of the duty cycle, the resonant
frequency was measured by finding the drive frequency at 6.6
0 20 40 60 80 100
which the RF current in the resonator was maximized. The Duty Cycle (%)

2 Care must be taken in designing this circuit, as it was discovered that Fig. 7: Measured resonant frequency vs. duty cycle of a
an instability may develop if amplitude modulation of the input causes any resonator containing the Active Variable Capacitance circuit
duty-cycle modulation of the output.
shown in Figure 5.

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 (a) Simplified schematic of autotuning repeater resonator. (b) Photograph of autotuning repeater resonator and directly-driven resonator.

Fig. 8: An autotuning repeater resonator (lower resonator in both schematic and photo) inductively coupled to a directly-
powered resonator (upper resonator in both schematic and photo), driven at 6.78MHz. Each resonator measures approximately
25cm×50cm. The repeater resonator automatically adjusts its tuning to maintain a constant RF current amplitude, IRF . The
direct and repeater resonators are each powering two regulated, wireless, 360mW LED loads. Note that inductors L1 and L2
have equal current amplitude, with opposite directions of circulation. In the directly-powered resonator, the capacitors C5 and
C6 are chosen such that L3 and L4 also have equal RF current amplitude, with opposite directions of circulation.

VI. E XAMPLE A PPLICATION : C ONSTANT RF C URRENT between the direct and repeater resonators was varied from
R EPEATER R ESONATOR 2.0cm to 5.5cm.

The ability to electrically control the tuning of an LC VII. C ONCLUSION

resonator has many uses in resonant wireless power transfer.
One example is the system shown in Figure 8, in which an
Active Variable Capacitance is used in combination with a
feedback circuit to maintain a constant RF current amplitude
in a wireless repeater resonator.3
The capacitors, Cs , C1 , and C2 are chosen such that, for
any duty cycle of the Active Variable Capacitance, the resonant
frequency of the repeater resonator is always higher than the
drive frequency produced by the RF Generator. This implies
that the RF current amplitude is a monotonic function of the
duty cycle.
The autotuning circuit measures the rectified DC voltage
across C3 , which is proportional to the RF current amplitude,
IRF , in the repeater resonator. A feedback loop regulates the
duty cycle of the gate-drive square wave in order to keep this
rectified DC voltage constant.
As a result, this feedback loop automatically changes the
tuning of the repeater resonator such that the RF current am-
plitude, IRF , remains constant, even as the inductive coupling,
k13 and k24 , is changed by moving the repeater resonator
relative to the directly-powered resonator. The system shown
in Figure 8 was able to keep the RF current amplitude in
the repeater resonator within ±1% of 2.83A as the separation
3 Patent
pending.
The Active Variable Capacitance and Active Variable In-
ductance circuits shown in Figures 2 and 3 allow the resonant
frequency of an LC resonator to be electrically controlled over
a continuous range, at high RF power levels, with low cost and
complexity, using a single switching device.
The electrical control of resonance has many uses in res-
onant wireless power transfer. One example shown in this
paper was the automatic regulation of the RF current ampli-
tude in a repeater resonator via a feedback loop controlling
an Active Variable Capacitance. Other potential applications
include making wireless transmitters or receivers less sensitive
to component variations, or environmental perturbations.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to thank Daniele Fusi for making
PCB layouts, as well as Jeffrey J. Yen, Feng-Kai Chen,
and Joshua Yu for helping build several autotuning repeater
resonators and directly-powered resonators, like those shown
in Figure 8, for experimentation and testing.
R EFERENCES
[1] Michael A. de Rooij, Wireless Power Handbook. El Segundo: Power
Conversion Publications, 2015. pp. 79-84.
[2] H. Funato and A. Kawamura, “Analysis of variable active-passive
reactance,” Conference Record of the Power Conversion Conference -
Yokohama 1993, Yokohama, Japan, 1993, pp. 647-652, doi: 10.1109/PC-
CON.1993.264180.

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